The blog of reason, weirdness, and progress. #progressive #disabilityrights.

I Voted! And the Importance of Help America Vote Act

You can’t see the ballot in front of you, so voting absentee is an invasion of your privacy. What do you want to do? When you go to a polling place, you should be able to vote secretly, and with the accessible voting machines, one would think this is possible. However, many polling workers do not know how to use the voting machines or how to set them up. Now is the time for more training for poll workers so we the blind can vote in secret.
The NFB has announced via its newsline service that there will be a hotline for those experiencing problems at the polling places, so if you are blind or visually impaired or a poll worker, do realize there is that hotline. I believe that it is up to blind Americans to vote in secret. Though Trenton and I voted, we were assisted by a nonprofit and it was no secret. I kept pushing the agenda of a secret ballot, but for blind people, the secret ballot is almost an off limits dream. Poll workers in Florida recently got a call from a buddy of mine because they were untrained and not exactly able to say they had an accessible voting machine, which that’s against the law. The election commission will deal with them, of course, and my friend will hopefully be able to cast a secret ballot like everybody else. I must say that whether you’re working or not, cast your ballot. Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian activist for peace, once said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” Well, Americans aren’t going to be that unless we vote, cast a completely independent secret ballot. The poll workers must be trained in how to deal, and accessible voting machines must be available to blind voters. If not, then how do you expect us to be the “change” that America needs to see? Blind people can be effective change agents, but we’re prevented from it by barriers that we don’t put in front of us, rather it is the fault of family and well meaning friends, or so we think. Politicians will also be the worst examples for us and that also includes NFB insiders. If we can’t take over the White House, storm the internet with blog posts in support of independence for blind people, rat out politicians who don’t support us–like Old Mr. Donald, right?–we will ultimately be second class forever. So here’s what we do: step 1 is to go vote.
Step 2 is to petition.
Step 3 is to exercise our rights to assemble such as that done by the NFB and ACB. Both organizations are good examples of people assembling and doing this for a need’s basis. The blind need associations that actually give a damn about inside situations, however, and ACB seems to understand that. The free i-bill is an example. Currency reading is to me more important than the latest tech toys and the Internet of stuff! Why is it also more of a priority to make bullying and trolling more accessible than ever? We should close all those doors, not with negatively worded resolutions, but with positively worded ones geared toward educating blind youth and adults about bullying and online behavior. I’ve been trolled more than three times, and it was by the same guy, and it was consistently pro Trump. This means that politicians should also get in on the fray. No bullying should be the slogan, the mantra, the whatever. This should mean that internet sites like WordPress, Twitter, Facebook, and others should take it seriously, even if I’m not Leslie Jones, the famed Ghostbusters star. Stardom should not decide the fate of internet trolls. I should, and with one simple report. Suspended Twitter accounts like Republicking should remain as such, and so should any other Twitter account that this troll, Ivan, has used. If you violate the rules, things should be done about it. And if you’re a minor violating the rules, a parent phone call should be made by the violatee. In my case, I was going to inform the Sotos that their son was acting highly inappropriately online, using disposable emails, commenting furiously inappropriate crap on my blog, attacking myself and my future husband, who is African American. Let me be clear: Trump inspires too many Ivans in this world, and they carry more diseases than houseflies. The diseases aren’t what you think, more like negative connotations. A vote for Clinton is a vote for real change, change within the responsibility of Americans and our nearly 300-year-old democracy. Trump can’t jail Hilary Clinton, in fact she’d have to be impeached and the trial would have to result in a guilty verdict by the Senate. It would clearly be partisan politics at work. So guys, think about what you want for this country. Do you want me to seriously move to Canada? Do you want me to have to stay in a world where I’m not respected because of blindness? Do you want me to be second class forever? Then if you do, Trump world is where you belong. Clinton even mentioned the disrespect the GOP nominee has for disabled people, lying about his treatment of women. Clearly, this guy can’t run a country. We’re not gonna put up with it, and hence my vote was cast absentee. It was the easiest way I could cast a vote. But I want more access in voting, let’s do online voting. And there should be security measures in place, not captchas, that allow blind people to vote absentee online. Clinton might support these revolutionary causes.
If you are following this blog, I’d like to extend a special welcome. Please feel free to comment, but do it in a constructive and nonpartisan way. Due to the heated political atmosphere, Make America Great and Trump’s supposed support here is not allowed. Why? Take a look at the previous comments, I had to lace the profanities with my own spin. The man who wrote those comments was disgraceful.
Now, I hope to celebrate a woman in the White House. You with me? Who’s with me? Put your vote out there, but think before you vote.